by Frank James
Television coverage of President Obama's inauguration drew a very healthy 29.2 percent of the TV audience Tuesday despite the availability of other ways to watch the days' events, for instance streaming Internet video.
Obama's rating according to Nielsen compared very favorably with a 20.8 percent rating for former President George W. Bush's first inaugural in 2001 and 24.5 percent for former President Bill Clinton's first inaugural in 1993 in the days before streaming video.
An excerpt from Nielsen's report:
The combined overall household rating for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters was 29.2%.
The audience estimate reflects live coverage on the combination of (14) broadcast and cable networks throughout the day's events from 10:00AM to 5:00PM (ET) with 2 additional networks (CNBC and ESPN) airing the inauguration from 11:30a-1p. (Nielsen's audience measurement is based only on viewing in the home, so these figures do not include viewing that occurred in offices, schools, and other public spaces. That holds true for previous inaugurations as well.)
Among the top 56 local metered markets, the Raleigh-Durham market had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 51.2, while the Seattle-Tacoma market had the lowest household rating: 18.8. The 56 metered markets combined represent approximately 70% of all U.S. TV households.
One rating point equals 1% of the total TV households in a given market.
Comments
Since we've been told the last year that dissent was patriotic (though I suspect that line will be shelved now that Obama is president), it should be pointed out that Obama's 29.2 ratings share runs way behind Reagan's 37.4 share in 1981, and even behind Nixon 1969 and Carter 1977.
Plus, as Variety Magazine (http://www.variety.com/VR1117998855.html) points out, "American Idol" ratings cleaned the inauguration's clock.
And if you want to see a photo of the mountain of trash the allegedly "responsible", tree-hugging Obamaphiles left behind on the Mall, take a look at Drudge Report.
Posted by: Dissent is Patriotic | January 21, 2009 4:01 PM